Behind the Smile
by ProfessorDumbleBrows
Summary: In Haruka's opinion, Makoto was almost always smiling. There were times, of course, where he would be serious. But most of the time, there was a smile on his face. One evening, Haruka decided to find out why Makoto usually wore a smile and if there were any way to wipe the smile away without hurting him.


"You're always smiling..." Haruka mumbled as he lounged on his bed. Sitting on the floor, Makoto looked up from his music sheet book and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" the brunet asked.

Haruka sat up and crossed his legs. He turned his head and looked at Makoto. "You're always smiling." He repeated. "No matter what's going on, you smile."

"That's not true." Makoto stated with an amused laugh.

"Most of the time, then." Haruka corrected himself.

Makoto closed his book and placed it on the floor next to him. He turned his upper body and crossed his arms on the side of Haruka's bed. "How did that thought even come across your mind?"

"I don't know. I was just thinking."

Another amused sound escaped from Makoto's throat. "Haru thinks of the most random things." He said, poking his tongue out at his friend.

Haruka narrowed his eyes at Makoto and extended his hand to make contact with his shoulder. He gave a rather strong shove and the other male fell on his back.

"Gah! What was that for?!" Makoto pushed himself back up and pouted. In return, Haruka smirked and shifted his position so his whole being faced Makoto now.

"You just looked pushable." He said.

Makoto sucked his teeth and grabbed his notebook. The pout soon melted into a smile again and Haruka felt his eye twitch.

'_Seriously! How does this guy do it?!_' He thought. Throughout the many years of their friendship, that was one thing he could never figure out. But now... Now was the time he would find out. And Haruka was prepared to do whatever it would take to find out what was hidden behind that smile.

"I'm not hiding anything behind my smile." Makoto stated as he resumed correcting guitar chords he jotted down earlier.

"There has to be something..."

"I'm just happy. I'm spending the night with my best friend and vacation is next week."

"Hmmm..." Haruka tapped his chin.

"I'm being honest with you. That really is it. I like being around you, Haru." Makoto responded as though it was obvious. Which it was to everyone around them.

The room became silent. Makoto peacefully continued his corrections and Haruka flopped back on his bed. He grabbed his phone that he threw onto his bed earlier and looked for Nagisa's phone number.

**To: Nagisa**  
><strong>Subject: Help<strong>  
><strong>Nagisa. I need to ask you a small favor. I want to try to get Makoto to not smile without hurting him.<strong>

Haruka looked over his message before he hit the sent button. A few seconds later and his phone chimed, signaling he had a text.

Hearing the soft chime, Makoto glanced at Haruka from the side of his eyes. _'...Who is he texting?'_ He wondered but didn't dare say a word. It's not that it bothered him, it just confused him since he knew Haruka never used his phone.

**_From: Nagisa_**  
><strong><em>Subject: RE: Help<em>**  
><strong><em>Haru-chan? I forgot I had your number!<em>**  
><strong><em>Why would you want to take away Mako-Chan's smile?! D:<em>**  
><strong><em>...You can try seducing him ;D It won't hurt him!<em>**

He read over the words and his eyes widened. His cheeks burned and he dropped his phone onto his chest. _'What is Nagisa thinking?!'_ Haruka grabbed his phone again and quickly responded.

**To: Nagisa**  
><strong>Subject: RE: Help<strong>  
><strong>What has gotten into you? I can't do that.<strong>

**_From: Nagisa_**  
><strong><em>Subject: RE: Help<br>You're the one that wants to take away Mako-Chan's smile... It's either that or you hurt him! Or you could just kiss him if you're so against seducing him. :I_**

**To: Nagisa**  
><strong>Subject: RE: Help<strong>  
><strong>Thanks Nagisa -_-<strong>

_**From: Nagisa**_  
><em><strong>Subject: RE: Help<strong>_  
><em><strong>You're welcome, Haru-chan! :D<strong>_

Haruka sighed and placed his phone on the side of his bed. He closed his eyes and thought about what approach he would take. A kiss would definitely be effective. And it might even be easy. But is he really up for kissing his best friend?

_'I can't believe I'm actually considering it. I can't frickin' believe it.'_

"Who were you texting?" Makoto asked softly, his eyes fixated on the book on his lap.

"Hm?" Haru snapped out of his thoughts. "It was Nagisa."

"...Nagisa?" Makoto's expression fell for a second but soon returned to it's previous state. "Everything's okay?"

"Just fine."

The silence returned. The shorter of the two took a deep breath and turned on his side. He moved so his upper body rested on the edge of the bed and he looked at what Makoto was working on. He examined the notes and tried to figure out each sound in his head to see if it was a cover of a song or an original song.

"It's an original. I decided to give it a try." Makoto stated as if he read Haruka's mind.

The brunet placed his pencil on the floor and closed the book again. He looked to Haruka and smiled, not caring how close their faces were. Haruka felt the burning of his cheeks intensify. He looked into Makoto's eyes and tried to decode the message hidden behind the green orbs. It was frustrating that he couldn't figure out what it was.

Without thinking, Haru leaned forward and closed the space between them. His lips pressed against Makoto's and he received a surprised, muffled sound in return. Makoto's eyes were wide and he stared at Haruka in shock when he pulled away. Haruka opened his eyes and wore a poker face, despite his heart ramming against his ribcage and his cheeks being tinted with a rosy pink color.

"H-Haru..." Makoto whispered, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly opened as he tried to process what just happened.

Haruka didn't speak. He just stared at Makoto, feeling accomplished that he managed to wipe the smile away without hurting him. But the tingling sensation left on Haruka's lips and the flips in his stomach were tempting him. He wanted more of that bittersweet kiss and craved for something more between them. He leaned forward again and kissed his friend once.

Being more aware this time around, Makoto pulled away quickly. "Haru, what's gotten into you?" His voice shook but he kept a calm composure.

"Sorry." He said and looked to the side.

Makoto brought a hand up and placed it on Haruka's cheek. He smiled at him and said, "Don't be sorry. It's okay."

Haruka looked back at Makoto hesitantly. _'And there's that smile again...'_ He thought. He kissed Makoto for a third time. His eyes closed slowly and he placed a hand on the younger's shoulder to steady himself. Makoto tensed up, but he didn't fight back. Instead, he welcomed it and his eyes fluttered shut as he kissed back.

The kiss did not last long this time around, and soon they pulled away once more. They looked into each other's eyes, finding a haze coating the usually bright set of blue and green eyes. Haruka felt his heart skip a beat at the beautifully dazed look he received and only made an amused sound in return. Makoto furrowed his eyebrows at the sound.

"Is something funny?" He asked.

"...No. Not really." Haruka responded with a simple tone and a hint of a smile.

"Then why are you laughing?" Makoto pouted a bit, feeling somewhat teased by his friend.

"I'm laughing because of the look on your face. It was… Dare I say, cute." He admitted.

"Cute…?"

"Yes. Cute." The raven-haired male brought a hand up to cup under Makoto's jaw and ran his thumb along his bottom lip. "And I finally got you to not smile without hurting you."

Makoto's face flushed slightly and he asked, "All of that just to have me not smile?"

Haruka stood silent and Makoto took that as a reassuring 'yes'. He bowed his head a little and a soft, amused sound escaped. He looked to Haruka's face again and said, "I guess that was one way of doing it. But you should know I don't expect you to stop now."

Haruka felt his face warm up a bit and he gave him a short nod in response before leaning forward and kissing him again. Makoto smiled into the kiss and this time, Haruka didn't mind the smile one bit.

Both of them could tell it was going to be a long night ahead of them.


End file.
